WSOP announces a schedule with broad, affordable offerings

Updated 9:56 pm, Monday, February 25, 2013

And while that is never a guarantee, the promise of a $1 million top prize in a $1,500 buy-in event in the Series' first weekend — dubbed the “Millionaire Maker” — is a great place to start.

The 2013 WSOP was released last week, and the 62-tournament slate scheduled to run May 29 through July 15 offers something for a wide range of bankrolls and format specialists.

Some highlights:

Millionaire Maker: It's not a typical $1,500 buy-in event because it allows a single re-buy, but this promises to be a major value play. The WSOP unveiled this event last year without the guarantee, and the 3,404 player field only drummed up a first-place prize of $781,398. A possible overlay of $100,000 or more is a mountain of free cash.

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Seats open: A record 480 tables will be spread at the spacious Las Vegas Rio. That's a daily cap of 4,320 if every table was filled with nine-handed play — a number that would have comfortably seated everybody in any 2012 field.

The increase in seats also trims a day off the $10,000 buy-in Main Event schedule with the first of three Day 1s set for July 6.

Event No. 34: Fans of rapidly escalating blinds will be treated to the first “Turbo” tournament ($1,000 buy-in) in WSOP history. Instead of the standard 60-minute levels, the first four levels will increase in 30-minute intervals and later increase to 40.

Deep structure: Tournament director Jack Effel is continuing the “triple chip” formula that has been in place the past few years, meaning every player will sit down with a starting chip stack of three times the size of the buy-in.

Value weekends: The $1,500 and $1,000 buy-in no-limit Hold 'Em events usually create the most foot traffic, and this year they're efficiently scheduled to take place every Saturday and Sunday throughout the WSOP (and a scattering of other dates) for players who want to plan a lengthy poker weekend.

Ladies only: Tournament officials came up with a creative way to make it more unappealing for men to enter the June 28 Ladies Only No-Limit Hold 'Em Championship. Seats for the “$10,000” buy-in event will come at a $9,000 discount for all female players, while men pay the full amount. The event has been plagued recently with men, who legally, yet unethically, entered the fields with disregard of its intent.

For a complete event schedule, visit wsop.com.

RIP Jerry Buss: Dr. Jerry Buss, 80, is best known as the longtime owner of the Los Angeles Lakers, but he also was a major player on the high-stakes poker scene.

His favorite games were Seven Card Stud and limit Hold 'Em, but he could hold his own in every poker format. Buss had more than $170,000 in lifetime tournament winnings, but cash games always were what he did best.

In 2009, when the Lakers were celebrating one of their 10 NBA championships in the Buss era, he didn't even bother attending the citywide parade — he was too busy playing poker.

After hearing of Buss' death, Doyle Brunson posted on Twitter: “Dr Buss lost 50K in a poker game. Me: Sorry u lost so much. Him: “It's OK, I could do it every day for 100 years and still be rich.” #RIPBuss.